This second Thor trailer (the third if you count the Comic-Con footage) seems like a whole different movie from the previous sells. Call this the 'general sell', but it basically tells the film from the point-of-view of the Earthlings as they discover this muscle-bound Australian who seems to have fantastical powers. The good news is that there is more screen-time for Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings (who seems to be the only one having fun) and less screen time for the flat Chris Hemsworth and the terribly-bored Anthony Hopkins. It still makes the picture look awfully small-scale, but it's more narratively-coherent than the prior trailers.
But this actually makes the film feel more like well, I Am Number Four (which this trailer will likely debut in front of tomorrow). In this sell, we get a strange, super-powered hunky dude who magically comes to Earth, courts a hot earth-girl, and finally defends new friends from those on his home-world who wish us harm. Sound familiar? The film has always given off a Masters of the Universe vibe, with most of the film taking place on cheap Earth sets with a bare minimum of Eternia (or in this case, Asgard) action. More importantly, the action beats actually set in Asgard don't feel the list bit real, both in their overtly green-screen-ish look (See Thor attack CGI monsters against an obviously CGI backdrop!) and their stilted choreography. And I'm a little tired of trailers that end with 'Hey, look at the giant monster we've got in reserve for the finale!' (ie - the 'Release the Kracken!' moment).
This trailer is indeed an improvement over the confusing and horribly paced initial sneak-peaks. As it is, the trailers have been so jumbled that their really is a certain amount of mystery regarding what kind of film it's going to be. As always, we'll see...
But this actually makes the film feel more like well, I Am Number Four (which this trailer will likely debut in front of tomorrow). In this sell, we get a strange, super-powered hunky dude who magically comes to Earth, courts a hot earth-girl, and finally defends new friends from those on his home-world who wish us harm. Sound familiar? The film has always given off a Masters of the Universe vibe, with most of the film taking place on cheap Earth sets with a bare minimum of Eternia (or in this case, Asgard) action. More importantly, the action beats actually set in Asgard don't feel the list bit real, both in their overtly green-screen-ish look (See Thor attack CGI monsters against an obviously CGI backdrop!) and their stilted choreography. And I'm a little tired of trailers that end with 'Hey, look at the giant monster we've got in reserve for the finale!' (ie - the 'Release the Kracken!' moment).
This trailer is indeed an improvement over the confusing and horribly paced initial sneak-peaks. As it is, the trailers have been so jumbled that their really is a certain amount of mystery regarding what kind of film it's going to be. As always, we'll see...
Scott Mendelson
